The King and I
1951 musical by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II
The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel Anna and the King of Siam (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher who is hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the piece, as well as by a love to which neither can admit. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951, at Broadway's St. James Theatre. It ran for nearly three years, making it the fourth-longest-running Broadway musical in history at the time, and has had many tours and revivals.
In 1950, theatrical attorney Fanny Holtzmann was looking for a part for her client, veteran leading lady Gertrude Lawrence. Holtzmann realized that Landon's book would provide an ideal vehicle and contacted Rodgers and Hammerstein, who were initially reluctant but agreed to write the musical. The pair initially sought Rex Harrison to play the supporting part of the King, a role he had played in the 1946 film made from Landon's book, but he was unavailable.
The public source identifies “The King and I” as 1951 musical by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around King, musical and team.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6431690. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1944, 1951, 1950 and 1946.
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This entry incorporates text from “The King and I” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.